Saturday, November 3, 2012

Ating Pinas: Former Senator Jun Magsaysay

Ating Pinas (Our Philippines) is a regular
series about anything and everything Filipino.
Featuring uplifting articles that inspire national pride as well as
sombering essays to spur participation towards positive change.

_ _ _

A Few Deserving Senatorial Bets

Numbers Don't Lie

By ANDREW JAMES MASIGAN

MANILA, Philippines — We’ve come a
long way since the lost decade under GMA, but much still needs to be done to
sustain the favorable economic outlook we enjoy today. P-Noy’s anti-corruption
campaign and pursuit of good governance provides one part of the equation.

The remaining half lies on the
shoulders of the legislature. New laws have yet to be passed to improve our
level of competitiveness, bolster government’s revenues, strengthen our
institutions, and better prepare the youth for the economic challenges of the
future. This is why the next elections, particularly those for the 12
senatorial slots, are so crucial.

The senatorial slates of both the Liberal
Party and United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) are pretty much firmed up. From
what I see, both parties offer a hodgepodge of candidates ranging from your
garden-variety trapos (traditional politicians) to newbies, neither of which is
compelling enough for me to vote a straight ticket.

So from now until election day, I’ll
be dedicating some of my columns to candidates whom I think can contribute to
our national dream of economic prosperity for all. This is my way of helping
ensure that those elected are public servants in the truest sense with
something substantive to contribute.

But before I reveal my first
senatorial choice, let me first tell you who I am NOT voting for. I am not
voting for candidates who are next of kin to any incumbent senator. I say this
because no single family should have more than one vote in the formation of
national policy. This could prove dangerous especially if the family has
inclinations, or already is, a political dynasty. Moreover, no candidate should
gain undue advantage just because he or she enjoys the benefit of name recall.

I will not vote for those
intellectually and experientially deficient, those suspect of having committed
crime, and (especially) those who, in the past, sabotaged the economy by
mounting a power grab through military rebellion. These are people who do not
deserve the vote of hardworking citizens like you and me.

First Among My Choices

The first candidate on my ticket is
former senator Jun Magsaysay. Experience and intellectual savvy aside, Jun Magsaysay
is a man with a well-defined agenda for running for office. If elected, the
former senator will champion the cause of entrepreneurship, small- and
medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and the agricultural sector in the senate.

For a nation blessed with millions of
hectares of arable land and fertile fishing grounds, it is still a net importer
of rice, grains and produce. The sector has shrunk massively since the ’70s due
primarily to the premature implementation of land reform. As a result,
agriculture has shrunk to only 13 percent of the entire economy, from more than
50 percent two decades ago.

The ultimate goal is food security,
says Magsaysay. Unknown to many, the good senator was the principal sponsor of
the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act, the most comprehensive
statute that outlines the long-term development of the agricultural sector. He
was also the main proponent of the Young Farmers Program, a scheme that
encourages the youth to venture into agri- and fisheries-related businesses, a
field not too fashionable these days. In fact, even after his stint at the
senate, Magsaysay continues to promote the agricultural sector as a field of livelihood.
This is an advocacy close to his heart.

Of course, let us not forget that he
was the lone senator who had the guts to blow the whistle on the
Bolante-Fertilizer Scam even amid pressure from GMA herself.

As for his advocacy on
entrepreneurship is concerned, Magsaysay is the man behind the Magna Carta for
Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), a law that made it mandatory for
banks to allocate eight percent of their loan portfolio to support SMEs. The
decree has helped thousands of struggling
entrepreneurs expand their businesses, save them or get them off the
ground.

But as a private citizen, perhaps not
many are aware that Magsaysay is himself a self-made entrepreneur. He is
considered the country’s “father of cable TV,” having established the first
cable network in Zambales way back in the ’60s. His company, Asian Vision Cable
Holdings, is still operational today and provides cable services for the folks
in Zambales and Batangas, among others.

Lately, however, Magsaysay has been
preoccupied with his dairy farm and pasteurizing plant that goes by the brand
name, Holly’s Milk. Like the true La Sallian entrepreneur that he is (with an
MBA from New York University), he built his company from the ground up to prove
that dairy farming can be a viable business. His handiwork has since grown to
become a fully integrated milk processing facility that utilizes the most
current technologies.

The former senator understands the
plight of the entrepreneur because he is one himself. He understands the challenges
of the agriculture industry, having experienced it first hand. To me, this
makes him credible.

I very much appreciate my articles and
photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local
broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for
permission first.